Grandparents Gone Wild

This past weekend my parents came up for a visit! They couldn’t stay away another day from their grandson

We ate 3 amazing dinners and had a great mix of sightseeing and chilling out at home

Mom played with Mazen in the mornings so I could go back to sleep for a bit, and I made her breakfast in return.

She also watched him while I went to the gym twice – such a treat!! And we watched the first few episodes of Downton Abbey (I’m ready to watch it again!) and made our next Real Health video on baby developments.

Grand Pepaw, who we simply called “P” all weekend, did lots of walking and enjoyed drinking Matt’s beer for lunch : )

Our first night’s dinner was a recipe from Better Homes & Gardens – herby fish with tomatoes, parsley and raisins

Served with pan-seared Brussels sprouts and Mediterranean Olive bread from Great Harvest

Yummy cotton carrots!

We went to the bakery for lunch on Saturday – hot soup and mini Cheddar Garlic sandwiches!

And then we walked to Sweethaus for buttercream. I had to show mom was it was all about!

Night two we had spaghetti – Mona Lisa Pasta with red sauce and pork sausage and salads on the side

Cupcakes for dessert!

The next day we paid a visit to Champion Brewing so they could taste the new beer flavors

Night three was baked brie with blueberry-lavender jam for appetizers

Followed by Organic Butcher Herbed Chicken with brown rice and canned green beans

We ended the weekend with brunch at Beer Run with Karen (who had been out of town)

I enjoyed salmon atop a biscuit with veggies and two eggs

We were sad to see them head back to North Carolina – until next time!

I sometimes forget how lucky I was to have grown up with my whole family all within a few blocks of one another! But that’s great that your parents are close enough to visit frequently, and I’m sure it makes the visits that much more special!

Ah I love this post! I love all the cuddle photos, Mazen looks just as in love with them as they are with him. Mazen is super cute and all but if I were related to you I think I would feel compelled to conveniently drop by around meal times. I would only do it like… every other day. I wouldn’t want to be the annoying relative.

Wow. All these meals look delish! Your salads always look so vibrant and colorful. Where do you get your lettuce and what type is it? Just mixed greens? And how do you store your lettuces? I love mixed greens, etc. but they do not last more than 24 hours in those bags or snappy boxed containers. I’ve tried various stores all over town, including TJ’s of course.

I get different kinds – baby spinach, half and half mixed greens/baby spinach, and my latest is “power greens” which is baby kale, chard + spinach. I buy them at Whole Foods and generally get a full week out of a big tub.

Hi Kath, I saw that the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends one cup of pasta, about the size of a baseball, as explained in this link http://www.eatright.org/public/content.aspx?id=4294967941#.UQouzo4vLBI. With the recent changes to your blog and the survey results you posted a few days ago, I’m surprised you didn’t answer this question from the lens of a RD. I love your blog and have followed it for many years now and your RD knowledge is one reason I keep coming back. There are a ton of bloggers out there who give unsolicited and scary advice to their readers with zero credentials or experience. This is an opportunity for you to really shine and it’s disappointing that you just replied “it depends on the person.” Maybe next time you could say something about your own serving, that would even be helpful. Like “it depends on the person, I usually serve myself this amount and Matt prefers this amount.” Again, I love your blog but we’re all dying for that RD spin on things! Help us out here, girl…!!!!!!!

I really enjoy the new diection of the blog. I started reading your first year & always enjoyed your 3x a day meal posts & thought I’d be a little bummed not to see that anymore. Reallt, it just made me realize that the thing I like most about your blog is the combination of tge food & your lifestyle & that shines thru stronger than ever!

My son, Jackson, is just a few weeks older than Mazen and I have to say it’s so nice to see another bald looking baby boy!! Jax has very very fine blonde hair (I’m sorry, son. I’m afraid you get that thin hair from yo’ mama) and I always wonder if he’ll look bald forever. Good thing bald looking chubby babies are ADORABLE! I love that you guys match a lot. So cute

I don’t know how they can resist not moving 2 doors down with such a cutie has he is! I love how his vest matches yours. The worst thing for me is when I check in to see your posts on my morning break and I have to wait another 2 hours till lunch- so afraid one of my co-workers is going to see me licking my screen!!!!! Especially the baked brie……oh my…(stomach growl)

Sounds like an amazing weekend with your parents! Oh my gosh, Mazen is getting so big and he is incredibly adorable! He looks like such a happy little man! I’m glad your enjoying your time with your family.

How fun! Love grandparent visits! Looks like a yummy weekend! I’m excited, btw- to hear you post about buckwheat. I know you mentioned it at one point. We recently went vegetarian (until I can do more research about sustainable and humanely raised meat sources here locally) and I know that buckwheat is another one of those plant-based complete proteins. So I’m really trying to research how I can incorporate it more in our diets (especially with my kiddos).

I could scarf down that bread…it looks so amazing! Its so nice to spend time with family, I bet it was a great time to see everyone! At our family Christmas we had brie cheese with blueberry jam and it was my favorite!

Mazen, as everyone else has noted, is absolutely precious! I see a mix of you and Matt in him (though maybe a touch more Matt), but in the photo of him with your dad–he looks a bit like your dad! It’s so much fun to watch babies morph into kids, kids morph into teens and teens morph into adults.

It will be interesting, if you continue with blogging, to see how much you continue to share about Mazen. My kids were teens when I started my blog, and I knew that I wouldn’t be sharing much of their lives online. But that was only because they were old enough to express their wishes to me. It would have been much harder to know what to do if they had been babies (toddlers or under 10) when I began my online life. I am sure you already have a plan already in mind.

Hi Kath,
Looks like a GREAT weekend with the parents. And great food and beverages, too
I have the same OXO Sprout highchair for my daughter Penny. She is 6-1/2 months old but I feel she’s still too small for it. She is maybe 15+ pounds now (her last weigh was at the doctor 4 weeks ago and she was 14 pounds so maybe even more).
Can I ask how much does Mazen weighs?
I’d love to get her in the chair as she has started solids but for know we have her in the bumpo (with safety strap) and tray.
Thanks!http://www.thegabesleybunch.com

The photo of your parents with Mazen is absolutely adorable. I love how chunky he is and how happy he looks! When my oldest was 4 months old, he weighed 22 pounds! I suppose that was indicative of what he would be like later. He is now 16, 6’3″ and 165 pounds! Ah…time flies. Glad you enjoyed your folks!

mazen is soooooooo cute! he gets cuter everyday! and i swear, mazen is definitely one of the cutest blogger babies. EVER!
i am so sad to see that a large percentage of readers didn’t want to see mazen pictures..it just saddens me, because the pix really do brighten up my day!

would you consider having different tabs, so maybe a mazen tab where you can post pix but not have it show up on the main page? i would really love to see more mazen pix!

I’m a longtime reader and love the new blog! I’m doing a postdoc at Duke and am just getting into the field of obesity research. I came across this article in New England Journal on obesity myths today and thought of you:

I’m quite surprised by most of those (not the sex one though ) There may not be convincing evidence to support the claims, but this article doesn’t really say if there was evidence that they are completely un true? I think most of those are true for some people, but maybe not all. And what that says to me is that everyone is different.

Looking at the NEJM article, the study does appear to differentiate between levels of evidence.

“In this article, we review some common beliefs about obesity that are not supported by scientific evidence and also provide some useful evidence-based concepts. We define myths as beliefs held to be true despite substantial refuting evidence, presumptions as beliefs held to be true for which convincing evidence does not yet confirm or disprove their truth, and facts as propositions backed by sufficient evidence to consider them empirically proved for practical purposes”

They classify beliefs based on the scientific evidence: evidence disproving, no strong evidence either way, and evidence proving. This is quite an interesting study, so thank you for pointing us to it.

Kath-the blog is harder to look at centered to the left this way. maybe you’re working things out-but just as an everyday reader, it feels off center and not as enjoyable to read. Just feedback that you can use how you would like.